


Book of Endings

by Deviant_Donghun



Series: Destined [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Multiple Endings, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:25:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deviant_Donghun/pseuds/Deviant_Donghun
Summary: The multiple endings (and one shots) for my earlier work, Destined. Please read that first as this won't make any sense without it.





	1. Worst Ending

Sara hit Connor at full speed, pushing him away from the black hole about to swallow him. She was caught in it's pull, however, and was dragged into it, having to watch Connor's stunned face as she disappeared from him. She blacked out soon after the hole closed over her.

◉ ◉ ◉

When she woke up, Sara was lying in a ditch that, once she looked around for a second, she remembered vividly. She was bruised a bit but didn't think anything was broken. Almost a full minute later, she was just thinking about getting up when a small figure came barreling around the shed, almost landing in the ditch and on top of her but stopping just in time. The small thing seemed to be Sara herself at the age of nine. The young girl stopped and stared at what have must seemed to be a very strange sight. Sara's head started to hurt as she looked at her younger self but she ignored that as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Well, young lady?" She said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The younger version of the brunette tilted her head in obvious confusion. "Excuse me, miss?"

Sara smiled. "You almost ran me over, but that doesn't matter now." She looked around, hoping to see Connor lying there, just as broken and battered as she remembered him being. Unfortunately, she didn't see him anywhere. She looked back at herself. "Have you seen anyone else recently?"  
"Only my parents and friends at school. No one but you back here. Speaking of which," she began to back up slowly, "I should probably get back. My parents want me inside for dinner soon."

Sara smiled, knowing that she was lying. "I know what you're thinking. You think I'm some sort of kidnapper or something, right?"

The girl nodded, still backing up but her steps had become hesitant. Sara kept talking, thinking quickly. "What if I told you a secret, hmm?" Her eyebrows rose with the hum. She leaned toward the girl just the smallest bit, speaking her next sentence in a whisper. "I'm from the future."

The girl completely stopped, her attention now fully on Sara. "Prove it."

"How can I? If I tell you something from the future, you won't believe me. If I tell you something from the past, you'll say that I simply know my history. If I tell you something from the present, I could very well be giving something away. How would you like me to prove that what I say is true, other than that I was not anywhere near here just a minute or so ago."

The child tilted her head, thinking. "What's you name?"

"My full name is Sara Rose Brown."

 

She watched as the eyes staring at her widened. "That's my name!"

"You have just figured out a secret: I'm you."

The girl looked her over, studying her features for similarities between them. Finally, she locked eyes again. "Alright. Say you are, can you prove this?"  
Sara sighed, not knowing how much time she had. "You slept with your favorite stuffed animal until you were six. Even now, you still pull it out when you have trouble sleeping. The animal is a giraffe."

"Okay, you're me. So what? Why are you here?"

"I need your help with something." She moved her hand to her pocket, being thankful that she had thought to bring the harddrive with all the footage on it before leaving the apartment. "I need you to take this. When you grow up . . . ." She filled herself in on a few of the finer details of what happened but kept it brief and mostly vague in case she revealed something that would change the timeline. After that, she didn't know what was happening. Her head felt like it was being filled with cotton. Her younger self helped her get to their father's shed, sitting her down in the corner.

◉ ◉ ◉

Sara walked through the streets, hands in her pockets and hood up. She didn't know where she was going on this sunny afternoon, only wandering aimlessly. She stopped on a street corner, raising her head to watch for traffic. As she did, she saw the face from the videos that her older self had died to bring to her. If it was that important to her, than she would do this for her. She always checked up on him occasionally, watching to see when he needed that one moment that would erase her debt to herself.

It seemed that the time had not yet come so she just kept going, pulling the hood tighter over her face so he wouldn't notice her as she crossed the street. She returned to her apartment, sure that it wasn't going to happen today. Just for the heck of it, she put the video she had been given up. However, when she pressed play, the video wasn't what she remembered it to be. Instead of an excited younger Sara speaking of a new scientific breakthrough, she came face to face with a smaller her helping a taller her into the shed. She watched in confusion as they sat down, seeming to ignore the camera. Even then, the conversation was not what she remembered. Instead of Sara being told to protect Connor from the vortex when it arrives, she is told to watch out for it and avoid it. It seemed that something happens to cause the void to target Sara instead of Connor.

She smiled. She was free! She could live the way she wanted to, not the way a different version of her told her to. She didn't worry about the vortex coming after her. After all, she had been dealing with the single thought of evading it practially her whole life. She stood from the couch and spun in a circle, laughing until tears came out. Collapsing onto the floor, she laid there in ecstasy. No longer did she have to worry about taking care of someone she had no interest in

personally, no longer having to watch their every step. She could finally be her own person.  
Not once did it ever cross her mind what might have happened if she had actually met Connor herself. She never thought about the friendship or even the romance that may have come out of it.


	2. Second Worst Ending

Sara ran at Connor with everything in her. She collided with him, pushing them both away from the black hole looming behind him. She fell on top of him, staying there for a second to catch her breath, having never run that fast in her life.  
In that second, the whole world changed.

◉ ◉ ◉

Sara picked herself up off the ground and the stranger she had landed on. She mumbled an apology as he stood up. He seemed preoccupied with something else. Someone called to him from the other side of the square and he gave her a nod as he walked past. She didn't bother to watch him go, continuing on her own way.

The stranger was out out of her thoughts before she had even turned the corner, already having other thoughts on her mind. She had a growing list of things to do for the evening. She had to finish the design for her latest project, had to eat something eventually, needed to go grocery shopping to get the food to eat, and her father had wanted her to call him before it got too late into the night. Not to mention how much cleaning she had to do. Sara had a very long night ahead of her.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her headphones and phone. Hitting play, she slipped the first item over her ears and slid the second back into her pocket. Almost immediately, a soothing android voice came through her ears, calming her and making her think that her list was not nearly as long as it was. She listened to _My Freedom Sounds Better with You_ the whole walk home, having it on replay.


	3. Best Ending

Sara ran at Connor with everything in her. She collided with him, pushing them both away from the black hole looming behind him. She fell on top of him, staying there for a second to catch her breath.  
In that second, the whole world changed.

◉ ◉ ◉

Sara picked herself up off the ground and the stranger she had landed on. She smiled at him, holding a hand out to him. She noted that he was handsome in the same moment that her eyes were drawn to the LED on his temple. His eyes told her he knew she noticed it but she smiled again, ignoring it. "I'm sorry, I'm so clumsy." She said.

He chuckled. "It's alright. I hadn't noticed you were there."

She shook her head. "Is there any way that I can make it up to you? I would suggest buying you a cup of coffee but you don't seem the type to drink that."

He laughed. "No, I don't drink coffee. However, I do happen to eat Thirium ice cream. Would you be interested in going for milkshakes instead?"

"Connor!" A voice called from across the square. "The fuck are you doing?"

"Sorry, Lieutenant! I'll be there in a second." He called back before turning his eyes back to Sara. "I guess I'm being summoned. How's Saturday? At three?" He named a café downtown.

She smiled. "That works just fine."

"It's a date, then!" Connor's face lit up like a light had turned on under his skin.

"Connor! Stop flirting and get your plastic ass over here!"

"I'm sorry, I really have to go. I'll see you on Saturday, . . ." His voice trailed off as he waited for her name.

Sara blushed as she grabbed a piece of paper out of her bag, writing her phone number on it under her name. "Sara." She handed the scrap to him. "My name's Sara."

"Untill Saturday, Sara." He tucked the paper into his jeans pocket before running to catch up with the grey haired man on the other side of the square.

◉ ◉ ◉

Sara arrived at the café, the place looking like a Johnny Rocket's knockoff. She slid into a booth, waiting for Connor. She was only twenty minutes early, so she pulled out a tablet. She was trying to finish the blueprinte for her latest idea but didn't seem to be able to concentrate. Everytime the door opened, she would look up. Five minutes to three, Connor was the one walking through the door. Sara waved at him as she put her things away.

The detective android slid into the seat across from hers, his hands meeting on the table. He leaned back a bit until it seemed he relaxed. Sara smiled at him, feeling shy yet comfortable at the same time. Connor smiled back and leaned forward. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm doing alright today. It's a bit weird to be out in the sunlight, me being practically nocturnal and all. How are you doing? You came in and it seemed that you shed a large load. You wanna talk about it?"

He laughed at her nocturnal comment before becoming serious. "I'm actually kinda tired right now. It's been a long day and my father is not the easiest person to work with when he wants to be. Work is just getting at me." He took a deep breath that was probably not needed and clapped his hands. "But we didn't come here to talk about work, did we?" He smiled at her as the waitress came over.

They ordered their milkshakes and set to talking. They talked about what seemed to Sara as anything and everything under the sun, easily moving between between topics. At the end of the date, Sara told Connor that, "This was actually the best first date I've had in a while."

Connor laughed, holding the door for her. "I'm glad. What do you want to do for the second date?"

Sara's smile grew, appreciative that he let her pick. "How about going to see a movie? My parente always talked about going to the theaters and seeing any movie that sounded interesting when they got there."

Connor seemed to think it over as they aimlessly walked the sidewalk. "That sounds like fun. When do you want to do it?"

"I'm basically my own boss so my schedule can be worked around. I'm meeting a friend Wednesday evening but besides that any day works for me."

"Well, Thursday night is free for me. My father doesn't have any plans and none of my friends has claimed that slot yet. How's that?"

"That works just fine."

They walked for a while longer, talking about their parents and friends. They parted when they had made it around the block and back to the café, agreeing to meet there on Thursday.

Sara took the bus back to her apartment. Closing the door, she sagged against it. She had had a few boyfriends over the years, but none of them were like Connor. He made her feel safe, which is something she had not felt with a man in a long time. She had just seen him but was already looking forward to seeing him again. She had a hard time describing how he made her feel except to say that he gave her butterflies in her stomach while calming her heart. She crawled into bed a while later, exhaustion eating at her. She fell asleep with an image of Connor behind her eyelids and a smile on her face.


	4. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a one shot to finish up the Best Ending.

Sara kept getting headaches sporadically throughout her dates with Connor. She would get flashes of memory that she was sure had never happened. One was when she was introducing him to one of her favorite bands and she got the distinct impression that she had done this before. Another was when Connor had let her try one of his puzzles. She got the strange feeling that she had done this one before with him laughing the whole time. One day, he stayed over. It was a day that he didn't have work and she had been sleeping when he surprised her by coming over. His great idea was to just snuggle while she slept. When she woke up to him reading a book she had recommended, _The Last Knight_ , she had a strong sense that this had happened before.

It happened so much that she even had some when she wasn't with Connor. Times that she was just alone at work and had the feeling that Connor was standing at her shoulder, even though she'd never taken him to work with her. After about a month of this going on, she talked to him about the feeling of having memories that hadn't happened. He confessed that he had been having the same things. A while later, he burst into her apartment with an almost scared expression on his face, his LED glowing a harsh red. He quickly walked over and took her into his arms, sighing as he buried his face in her neck.

"I thought I lost you for a second there." He murmured after a few minutes in that position.

"What do you mean? Did you get another memory flash?"

"You had been kidnapped." His voice was shaking as his LED was on yellow.

Sara took his face in her hands and kissed him gently. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I'm not going to leave you like that."

He nodded. "I know. It just freaked me out for a second there."

"You probably gave Hank a heart attack, bolting out like that."

He laughed. "Hank wasn't in the room. I was coming to see you anyways and it hit me on the stairs."

"Oh? What were you coming to see me about?"

He smiled. "I think I may have figured out what these memory flashes are from."

"Really? Where?" Sara felt a jolt of excitement in the form of adrenaline surge through her system.

"Really. I think it might be from an alternative timeline."

Sara nodded. "That makes sense. It would explain why it feels as if we've done something before or have the feeling that the other is near without us being together."

"It also explains why the memories are so vivid and feel so real. They could be caused by a recent deviation from the other timeline."

"As if a major event had taken place only a little while ago that moved this timeline out of line with the other."

"This means that we could have met a lot sooner in the other timeline."

He pulled her a bit closer, folding her into his arms again. "I don't think that part matters as much as the rest does. It doesn't really matter that a different version of us have met sooner or have been together longer. It matters more that this version of us have met and had time together."  
She snuggled deeper into his arms, letting him take part of her weight. "That's true." The two stood there for a while, just enjoying the feeling of being there in the other's arms.


	5. Midnight Snack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during the half month that they got to know each other.

Connor walked into the lab, coming back from getting 'lunch', to find Sara sprawled on the floor. Running over, his first thought was that she had somehow managed to hurt herself. Scanning her before he even got next to her, he found that she was conscious and unharmed. Slowing his steps, Connor left the sandwich on the table and crouched by her side. "May I ask what is going on?"

"What if I said no?" She spoke but her eyes remained closed and, except for the movement of her lips to form words and her chest to form breath, she remained still.

"Then I would just leave you alone and wait for you to want to talk."

A sigh ghosted out of her, her stomach seeming to deflate with the heavy exhale. "It's relaxing to lay on the floor. It helps me think sometimes. Right now, I'm also avoiding my work. If I can't see it, I don't have to deal with it." She sat up, her spine curving before she straightened fully. "Have you ever felt like that? Wanting to avoid something not because it's tedious or you're bored, but because you just don't have the energy for it at that specific moment? Say, you're unable to concentrate on one case because something else is keeping your attention captive in a way that nothing else does in that moment?"

Connor's lips quirked up at the corners, a lopsided smile forming that was all him. "There are times when my processors have found that it is easier to wonder what Sumo is doing while home alone or even what Hank is doing if he's away from his desk for too long. It's a natural curiosity." His head cocked to the side. "What has captivated your mind?"

"That's just it! I don't know!" She flopped back down on the concrete floor, no indication of pain coming soon after. "I don't know why I can't concentrate on what I need to do! I had hoped that by trying to relax and focus on nothing but my breathing, I could clear my mind and focus on the task at hand but it's not working!" Her voice grew more and more agitated towards the end until she sounded as if she were in great distress over such a little thing.

Connor chuckled. "Maybe you're just hungry. Come on," he knocked the back of his hand against her arm in a playful motion that was not forceful enough to harm, "come eat."

She sat up again but, this time, Connor held out one of his hands to help her up. Taking it, she allowed him to pull her to her feet. They walked over to the table, Connor opening the meal what was still in his hand. He placed it in front of her before moving to lean against the side of the table. Sara looked up at him. "You know, I could get used to this."

"Used to what?"

"To you. Having someone here to talk to, to remind me to eat, to keep me company. I really enjoy having you here with me."

"You also enjoy the fact that the best food you have at the moment comes from a vending machine. I'm seriously considering making you pack lunches to bring."

"But that would defeat the purpose of having you here to help me." She teased.

He just pointed at her food. "Just eat." With that witty comeback, the advanced prototype walked away to go look at a pile of tools in the corner.


	6. Nighttime Terrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to clarify that Sara does not have any PTSD from the kidnapping. The effects are left at the physical marks and nightmares. The reason for this is not that it wasn't a traumatizing event, but that I have no experience writing that. As I also do not suffer from PTSD, I do not believe that I could do justice to the true effects of it. For this reason, I have chosen to forgo mentioning it altogether.

It was the first day Connor had stayed over that it happened. He was sitting on the couch, reading, when she screamed. He tossed the datapad to the floor, not caring if it broke, and ran to her room. He almost broke down the door when he got to it, having to control himself and open it. He burst into the room, chest heaving in an attempt to cool his systems when his eyes found her. She was still on the bed but the sheets were tangled around her legs, preventing her from moving. She looked like she was trying to get off the bed, almost falling off of it in the process. Connor walked over, his strides eating up the ground, and tried to put his arms around her. She screamed again and pulled away.

Seeing her eyes wide open and unseeing was frightening to the deviant android, especially as she didn't seem to recognise him. Connor once again tried to touch her, this time gently fighting back when tried to hit him. He managed to grab her and hold her close, running his hands through her hair and talking to her. "Sara. Sara, you're fine. Calm down, please, you're okay. You're not there anymore. You're home, you're safe."

She relaxed into his arms, not as if she were comfortable but as if she had given up. Connor could feel his emotions break under that, getting a warning error for excessive beating of his pump. He relaxed his hold, allowing his arms to simply rest on her back and sides instead of pinning her down. She didn't try to move.

Connor kept talking to her, saying meaningless things that were meant to calm. Eventually, her eyes closed again and her breathing went from ragged to even. She seemed to have calmed down enough so he gently laid her back down and left, closing the door softly behind him. He went back to the couch and sat down, allowing his optics to unfocus as he gazed at nothing. It hurt him to see her like that, having nightmares. It hurt to know that, just a few meters away, someone he cared deeply for- no, loved- was hurting and he could do nothing to help her. Connor was a prototype, the most advanced android out there today, but he was powerless against nightmares. He punched the couch, feeling useless.

Eventually, he picked up the datapad and crept back into Sara's room. He knew it would look creepy if anyone ever saw him like this but he couldn't help it. He felt like he had to be near in case anything like that happened again.

◉ ◉ ◉

_Sara struggled. She couldn't seem to get out of the rope that tied her down, even as she struggled and tried to move. The android came at her again, this time with another knife. Somehow, she managed to knock the chair over and was lying on her side, trying to worm her way away. Suddenly, the android from the shed was there beside her, lying just far enough away to be seen but not close enough to help. He seemed to be smiling at her. The man came up behind him and began to attack him with another knife, even as the android standing over her plunged his knife into her shoulder._

_Sara screamed. The sound was loud, louder than it should be. It echoed off the walls and empty ceiling in a way it never should. The scream felt good, a feeling of control that she needed in this situation, so she did it again as another knife was thrust into her. This time, it hit her calf. A weight was pressed down on her and suddenly, the broken android was on top of her, crushing her. She felt her ribs break, heard the snap. She screamed again, even as she pleaded for them to stop. She was forced to look into the broken android's empty eyes, a deep brown that looked like dead leaves._

◉ ◉ ◉

She found herself sitting up in bed, Connor's hands on her shoulders as he pleaded with her to wake up. Her hair and shirt were plastered to her in sweat, she could feel it dripping down her back and her temple, curving over her upper lip. She could taste the salt on her tongue, hear her screams. This time, the sound barely echoed and felt terrible, like she was trying to eat broken glass. Her scream faded off as she became more aware of the room. She put her hands on top of Connor's, leaning her sweat soaked forehead onto his chest. He breathed out, moving one hand from her shoulder to the back of her head, his fingers burying themselves in her damp curls.

"Are you alright?" His voice was low, head dipped down to speak next to her ear.

She nodded, too tired for words, too shaken to trust herself to speak. She could feel herself trembling even as she just sat there.

"Do you need me to get you anything? Is there anything I can do for you? How do I help?"

A smile came across her face, fleeting but there. "I just-" her voice broke so she was forced to clear her throat and start again. "I just need a shower. I'll be fine in a minute."

Connor nodded, his chin briefly hitting the top of her head. "What do you want me to do?"

"Maybe make me some food." She whispered, leaning back just a bit as she moved from being supported by him to supporting herself.

"Okay, you go take a shower. I'll make you some food."

They both wandered off, trying not to think about her nightmares.


	7. Bad Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one shot takes place while Sara was recovering from her kidnapping. It's towards the end so she's not allowed to go to work yet but Connor doesn't have to be with her 24/7.

Connor opened the apartment door with the spare key, intending to let Sara know he was there when he caught the sound of soft music coming from the living room. That wasn't what scared him, though. What scared him was the lack of any other sound, as if she had left the stereo on and gone out. Taking off his shoes, Connor dropped them by the door and carefully padded over to the living room.

What he found surprised him. Sara had gathered all the chairs and pillows in the house as well as, it seemed, all of the blankets readily available. With these, she had created a large fort of pillows and chairs, blankets spread over the top of it all. He bent over and peeked into it to find that Sara had not left, just fallen asleep. He crawled in and laid down next to her, cradling her in his arms as if she were a fragile piece of art. Which, of course, she might as well have been with how strong he could be and how weak she was due to her healing wounds.

They laid there for a half hour, Sara sleeing and Connor allowing his thoughts to wander. He thought about how her wounds were healing well, how much work there was to do, the case he was dealing with at work. Eventually, he turned his thoughts back to reality and practicality. He thought about how long she had been sleeping here before he came in, if she had eaten or not.

Reaching over, he shook her awake. "Sara," he whispered, "Sara wake up."

She startled awake, eyes flashing open. Sitting up, she would have hit her head on the blankets above her if Connor hadn't held his hand above her. "Shhh, you're fine."

Her eyes gradually took on a less haunted look, seeming to actually wake up. "Connor? What are you doing here so soon?"

He smiled. "I came to keep you company. Again. How are you doing?"

She leaned on him, his arm coming around to encircle her shoulders in a small embrace. "I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

"There are many indicators to tell me that you weren't fine just a little while ago. Which one would you like me to name?"

"Name five."

He smiled again at her pout and the stubbornness in her voice. "Alright then. One, you have your sad playlist on shuffle. Two, the pillows on the floor. Three, the blanket fort. Four, you sleeping inside the fort instead of your bed that would be better for you. Five," here, he paused long enough brush a thumb against her cheek, "the tear tracks on your cheeks that suggest you cried yourself to sleep rather than just sleeping naturally. Now, wanna tell me again how you're feeling?"

Her pout deepened. "Fine. I wasn't feeling particularly well earlier in the day so I made the fort, thinking it would make me feel better. It didn't. So, instead, I crawled in and lined the floor with the pillows and put the music on. I hadn't realized I was crying until a few songs in. After that, I just let myself fall asleep."

"Was there any one thing that made you feel like that?"

She shook her head, allowing it to rest on his shoulder afterwards. "It wasn't anything. It was just one of those moments when you just get sad for no reason. I once read somewhere that it was because a person with no one to care about the died so the mourning was assigned to a random person. I don't know if that was a theory, fact, or even a random writing prompt."

Connor chuckled. "How about we make you some hot chocolate to make you feel better, hmm?" He carefully removed his arm from around her and crawled out of the fort, holding out his hands to help her stand up after him. "You grab the marshmallows and I'll make you a cup, alright?"

Sara nodded, already smiling. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

They both walked over the to kitchen. Sara pulled herself to sit onto the counter while Connor got out the things and began making the drink. When he was almost done, she reached behind her and tried to grab the sticky cylinders. Unfortunately, she tried with the right hand and wasn't able to reach high enough. Pain exploded in her shoulder, radiating out of the stab wound. Connor was behind her within a few seconds, his back pressed to her side, one hand gently lowering hers while the other grabbed the bag.

"Was it truly necessary to reach with the injured arm? It's not the right time to start pushing yourself, especially not over something that is almost pure sugar and completely bad for you."

Sara just growled. "Just shut up and give me my drink, please."

Chuckling, Connor handed the cup over. "Do you wanna drink it here or in the fort you made earlier?"

"The fort." She pouted slightly as she slid off the counter, bouncing when her feet hit the ground. She picked up her cup and the whole bag of marshmallows and made her way back to the fort, Connor trailing after her.


	8. Back-shelved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have anything to say for this other than I was in a bad mood and tried to use it for something productive.

Sara walked up the drive, checking her phone again to make sure she got the right place. This house was a bit too extravagant for what she remembered Elijah's tastes to be. Then again, she couldn't really balme him for wanting to go big or go home. It seemed to be his way with a lot of stuff. Knocking, Sara was curious to know how he had decorated the place.

The door was opened not by Elijah as Sara had thought it would be, but a blonde android in a light blue summer dress. Smiling, Sara embraced her. "It's good to see that Eli's keeping you in working order. Let me know if he ever stops doing that, alright? I'll give him a piece of my mind and fix you myself."

Chloe laughed. "I'll do that, Sara. In that case, am I right to assume that you want to see Elijah?"

Sara nodded. "Yes, please. I've never been here before."

As they walked, Sara started making small talk, testing if Chloe's social programs were up to date. "So, how long have you been activated?"

"I've been running for about a month now. I'm Elijah's third Chloe."

Sara hummed, letting her hand stroke the wall as they passed from one room to the other. "Did Eli have the house custom built?"

"Yes, he drew the plans himself."

Sara nodded, her eys wandering the room. The decor was just pretentious enough to give off the air of a multimillionaire without being gaudy. Sara wasn't sure yet if she liked it but knew that it was definitely Elijah. They continued talking until Chloe opened the final door and ushered Sara into a room that looked a lot like the lab they had originally created Chloe in.

The walls and floor were a pristine white, not a speck of dirt on them. The ceiling had the typical removable tiles, a white speckled with off white and, strangely, a light blue that blended in. There were tables against all the walls with different machines on them, each of which was performing a different task. In addition to those, there were a few tables shoved together in the middle of the room.

Elijah was standing at the tables, bent over and looking at something mpstly covered with a white sheet. When he heard the aproaching footsteps, he glanced up before straightening. His mouth stretched into a wide grin. "Sara! I wondered when you would show up!"

Sara laughed. "Well, you know how I am. I just now got around to visiting."

Elijah waved his hand, presumably to let the Chloe leave, before again gesturing, this time to beckon Sara forward. "Come here, come look at what I'm doing!"  
Sara aproached, one hand on Elijah's shoulder as she joined him. He threw back the sheet to show her what he was working on. It was a male android of color, his eyes closed and a panel in his chest open. "Who's this?"

"This," Elijah leaned toward her just the slightest bit, "is Markus. It's a present for Carl Manfred, a good friend of mine. He's getting on in years and need a caretaker, so I'm making a specialized model for him."

Sara frowned. "Don't you already have a line of nurse androids? Why not give him one of those?"

Elijah tilted his head side to side. "Well, I didn't want to give him a generalized model when he's done so much. He's one of the people who helped me find a love of design. Granted, it was inadvertantly but it was still there. He also recently got into an accident and has other medical issues. This is the perfect time to give him something he really needs." He shrugged. "I don't know, I just felt like doing this, so here we are. You wanna give me a hand?"

Sara smiled. "Sure! Where's the tools and what do you need help with?"

The rest of the evening was spent working on the android, one of the first in Elijah's RK series. After giving it the finishing touches, Elijah managed to convince Sara to stay for dinner (breakfast for her). As they make their way to the dinning room, Elijah asked Sara how she had been since he had last seen her.

She smiled. "I'm doing fine, Eli. There's no reason to worry about me."

He shook his head, holding the door for her. "That's the largest load of shit I've ever heard. And I've had to listen to a lot of it."

Sheepishly, Sara scratched at her arm. "So, maybe I haven't been doing as well as I would like to think I am."

"Come on, tell me all about it. Don't hide anything from me." He sighed. "What happened to us being closer than siblings? I thought we used to tell each other everything, now we barely talk."

Sara tilted her head side to side, mimicking what Elijah had done earlier. "That changed when you got famous. There was too much work for you to do and not enough time to be human."

They sat at the table, a Chloe bringing the food out. Once she left, the conversation continued. "Well, we're here now." Elijah said. "Just two humans having a meal. So tell me, what's been going on in your life?"

"Nothing much."

"And that's the problem. Who broke your heart this time?" He quirked one eyebrow up.

Sara rubbed one arm, not meeting his eyes. "No one you'd know."

"But you do admit to having your heart broken recently, yes?"

She glared at him. "Yes, you manipulative jerk. I've gone through a breakup. It was a week ago, so relatively fresh. You would know this if you had more time for others, not just yourself."

Elijah sighed. "The last time we talked about that, you said it was fine if we didn't see so much of each other every day. Sara, if you had voiced that sooner I would have tried to free up some time for my favorite almost sister."

She broke the eye contact, looking down at her plate and pushing her food around. "I've been drawing deeper into myself recently, especially after Pe- after he left me. I don't know why I didn't tell you." She sighed, her back curving as she slouched deeper into her chair, wishing for a blanket.

Elijah stood up, walking around the table to sit in the chair next to her. "I'm sorry. I should have realized that you still needed me to be there for you. I got so caught up in my job and everything that I hadn't even thought that my little sister still wanted to see me." He put one arm around her, pulling her in for a side hug. "Let's promise to meet up at least once a week to talk, okay? This way we can see more of each other."

Sara nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He squeezed her tightly before letting her go and going back to his seat. "Now, tell me about the boy who broke your heart."

"He didn't break my heart, Eli. We barely knew each other."

"But you said you broke up. How can you break up with someone you barely knew in the first place?"

"So, we'd been friends for a few months before he asked me out. Either way, we had only been dating for about two weeks."

"So, what happened?"

She was silent, trying to deflect by shoving a large bite in her mouth. Elijah just sat there with a look that said he was not amused. "He cheated, okay?" Sara said when her mouth was finally clear.

Elijah's eyes darkened. "Tell me his name, little genius. I don't want to have to start guessing."

Sara put her fork down in exasperation. "Come on, Eli! Really?"

"Yes." His tone was calm, as was his face. If it weren't for the look of murder in his eyes, she would have thought he was actually as serene as he looked.

"It was Peter. Peter Andrews. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you for telling me."

"Just-" she sighed, "just don't ruin his life for good. Okay?"

Elijah smiled, allowing the dark in his eyes to spread to fill his face and give him a decidedly sinister look. "Oh, my dear. I could destroy his life if I chose."

"Well don't. He's my coworker. Even if you leave him his job, I don't want to have to deal with someone glaring at me for something i can't control. Anyways, it's wrong. I can deal with awkward silence and uncomfortable passes in the halls. Just leave it, okay?"

His face softened, turning from one scheming to affection. "I wasn't going to pull him from his job. I was actually thinking of letting you use a Cyberlife lab to do your own projects. You wouldn't be employed by me, but you would occasionally be asked to help on certain projects, such as like today. Are you interested?"

Sara blinked. "That was a sudden one eighty. You doin' alright there, Eli? Normally you don't calm down this fast."

"I'm fine. I was going to try to get revenge for you but decided to just help you get over assholes like that instead. So, again, are you interested?"

"Of course I am! How close is the lab to where I live? I don't use a car so it would have to be near a bus stop."

The rest of the evening and meal was focused on working out the logistics for Sara's new job.


End file.
